


Beyond Two Dreams

by Mendu



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: ATEEZ (Band) Are Pirates, ATEEZ Storyline Event, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Desperation, Fantasy, Horror, Mistery, Suspense, Terror, Thriller, ateez angst, ateez story event, faketeez
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mendu/pseuds/Mendu
Summary: (ATEEZ storyevent)First, it was Seonghwa. After that, Yunho vanished too. Hongjoong is starting to get desperate. He has to hind his friends, and he has to do it quickly.On the other side of the city, Wooyoung observes, unable to stop it, how his best friend is taken away.What if the one behind those disappearances was... the same person?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. I:     S E O N G H W A

**_Un señuelo, hay algo oculto en cada sensación_ **

**_Ella parece sospechar, parece descubrir_ **

**_En mi debilidad, los vestigios de una hoguera_ **

**_Oh mi corazón se vuelve delator_ **

**_Traicionándome_ **

**_(A decoy, something's hidden in each sensation_ **

**_She seems to suspect, seems to discover_ **

**_In my weakness, the remains of a bonfire_ **

**_Oh, my heart becomes a tattletale_ **

**_Betraying me)_ **

* * *

Seonghwa never liked the smell of the ocean. He was quite sensitive to scents, and the ocean was always too salty, too strong for his delicate nose. Yunho was used to make fun of him, hiding his perfumes and letting the dirty clothes outside his room, but Seonghwa had managed to deal with it through the years.

Even though his smell training, the ocean seemed way more strong that other times that sunset.

This was the thing: pretty tired of being told by Hongjoong to left his exhausting job, he finally ended up catching an interview on a recently open cartography store. The person with whom he exchanged emails didn’t seem concerned about his lack of experience, or the fact that Seonghwa hadn’t been around a map since high school. They set up a meeting and there he was, in front of the café they’ve chosen, just across the street.

 _Lost children_ , glowed the signal above it.

“They are the ones who are surely lost” he thought, saving his phone on his back pocket after checking the time. _5.07pm_. About an hour late. He shook his head, thinking about how much he didn’t like late people, when a strange glow in the floor caught his attention. Curious, Seonghwa walked a bit away from the sidewalk, right next to the fence that separated him from the sea. It was a bracelet, with some weird symbol mixing a circle and a straight line. Such thing was damn cold when he grabbed it.

He looked around to see if there was anyone who might be the owner of the bracelet, realising that, actually, nobody was around. Even the café, which seemed quite full before, was empty. Not even the bartender was there. Bolstered by a bad feeling, Seonghwa was about to leave the place (already thinking about how much Hongjoong was going to kick his nose when he arrived) when he heard something right behind him.

“Seonghwa”

But there was nothing behind him. Only a fence and the sea behind his feet. He checked the long ramp where people used to download their boats, but it was quite far away. And Seonghwa was sure he heard the voice pretty next to his ear. Around his neck.

The air suddenly became cold and Seongwha’s nape got goose bumps.

“Oh, for Pan’s sake” he tried to hide his panic by swearing a bit and walking away from the waves. Suddenly, the bouncing movement of the water upon him seemed like a threat, although the fence was big enough to catch him if he fell. The air was cold and started to be quite windy. Trying to hold his clothes straight, Seongwha realised neither the palms on the sidewalk or the café’s signal were moving. Only him. He was being pushed by some kind of force he couldn’t see, but he felt around him.

“Seonghwa”

No doubts, right now his name was clear enough to catch the source: the wind itself. A terrible gale which smelled like salt and waves, was shaking his yellow jacket and his hair with a violence Seonghwa had never seen. And the fact he was the only one affected by this phenomenon was scaring him even more.

“Help!” he tried to scream, but his voice was covered but a big amount of voices screaming his name upon him. No, it was only one voice –a _woman_ ’s voice, multiplied a million times, making him close his eyes and fall on his knees. What was happening? Why did the scent become stronger, and why didn’t the wind stop blousing around?

The bracelet on his palm was being held so strongly that it started cutting his skin.

Seonghwa grabbed his head, still being shaken, while he tried to reach his phone. But it wasn’t there. Neither his wallet. Terrified, he opened his eyes.

A lot of years later, Seonghwa would still categorize that moment as the most terrifying and crippling of his life. Right in front of him, being surrounded by the terrible scent of sea and salt, being affected by the wind as he was, a lady covered by chains and what seemed to be black clothes stared at him. But there was not face. Not at all. Her pointy ears were barely recognisable around her dark hair.

“Seonghwa.”

With a disgusting and creepy noise, a cleft appeared on the middle of her bare skin, simulating an empty smile.

Seonghwa screamed.

On the middle of the sidewalk, aside a brown wallet, Seonghwa’s phone vibrated for the eleventh time on the last minutes. The screen showed Hongjoong’s face, before directing to the voice mail.

“Where are you, Seonghwa?”


	2. II:   Y U N H O

“I’m telling you, Yunho, he is not ok!” Hongjoong’s voiced seemed about to crack. He was worried about Seonghwa, who hadn’t arrived home in the last hour. Yunho didn’t want to tell, but he was worried as well. His hyung wasn’t the type of person who’d arrive late without telling anyone.

“He probably just run out of battery” tried to calm Hongjoong. Or was he trying to calm himself? Denying this last thought, he patted Hongjoong’s head. “Seonghwa is probably ok”

“He is not” insisted his friend, laying on the old sofa while grabbing his phone for the 50th time in the last hour. Yunho, gently, put it away. Immediately after that, he grabbed Hongjoong’s face and made him stare to him.

“Please, calm down, Hongjoong-hyung. Worrying won’t make him any good, right?” Hongjoong nodded, still pouting. “Why don’t you take a shower and try to relax a bit? He’ll probably be here on the next hour, I’m sure.”

Hongjoong didn’t seemed convinced by Yunho’s words, but he left the small living room ahead to the bathroom by whispering how concerned he was. And Yunho couldn’t blame him: since the four of them moved together, Seonghwa had never, ever, not only once, arrived home late without telling one of the roommates. Hongjoong and him were the most distracted ones regarding schedules or stuff like that. But Seonghwa? Park Seonghwa, who claimed that late people should be charged with a penalty fee? Certainly not.

In order to distract himself a bit, Yunho decided to cook for them. It was Hongjoong’s night, but if they didn’t want to end with a rush to the toilet, one of the others must supervise him. Besides, making pizza wasn’t that hard. He was already frying some bacon when his phone ringed, right next to him.

“Is it Seonghwa?” claimed Hongjoong, appearing only covered by a towel in front of Yunho. Astonished by his appearance, Yunho throw a t-shirt at him.

“Please, come back here when you have covered yourself!” he yelled. Only when he got sure his hyung was in his room, getting dressed, he took a look at the phone.

What he saw surprised him even more.

On the middle of his screen, aside a few notifications on Tuiter, was a Wasap message from his brother. It was only a location, twinkling in the middle of the map. They haven’t spoken in almost a week, and, from what Yunho knew, he was still on their hometown. What was Gunho doing in Seoul?

And why, on Avery’s name, was him sending a location, without any text or sentence or anything?

“It isn’t Seonghwa.” He said, more to himself than to Hongjoong.

“Who is it, then?”

But Yunho couldn’t answer. In that moment, a ton of messages started to make his phone buzz terribly. Each of them scared him more than the one before.

_Yunho!!!!_

_PleAse hELp!!_

_bro_

_!!!!111_

_CoME picK me pLEase!!_

“Gunho…”

“What” claimed Hongjoong, taking his phone way from Yunho’s hands. His eyes opened way more than before. “No. You have to be kidding me”.

“I’m going to pick him up.” said Yunho. He tried to sound calmed; but the terror poked out on his voice. Hongjoong grabbed his jacket without even looking at him.

“Coming with ya.”

“No, Hong-hyung. What if Seonghwa arrives and all he sees is the house empty?” Yunho pushed his hyung gently away, feeling how each of his words was hurting Hongjoong a bit more than the previous one. “I’ll pick him up and come back in a sec.”

“Listen to yourself! You don’t even know where Gunho is, or why he is here in Seoul!” Yunho frowned after that statement. “Shouldn’t we call your parents? What if this is a trap? What if someone’s stole your brother’s phone, and is trying to…”

“You know we haven’t spoken with our parents in two years.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“No, _you_ don’t be ridiculous.” Yunho zipped his jacket and grabbed his sneakers. Hongjoong talked again to him, and this time, he really sounded like he was begging.

“Yunho, please.”

It wasn’t only his tone. The way Hongjoong begged was something Yunho had never heard before. He turned his head slowly to face him. His hands were closed into fists; his eyes were about to cry. Knowing he was losing valuable time, Yunho walked a bit back and patted Hongjoong’s head for the second time in the last half hour.

“I’ll be right back.”

“I can’t lose you too.”

Hongjoong voice cracked.

“You won’t.”

Yunho closed the door behind him, only to hear Hongjoong’s small sob right before he walked away. If he had intentions of coming back, then, why did his last statement sounded like a lie?

 _I’ll be back. Gunho is not that far. I’ll pick him up and he can explain me what’s going on_. Leaving his building, Yunho started to walk heading to the avenue. Probably his brother had run away from home, like the last time… yes, it was probably that. Nothing to worry about. He was going to find Gunho, Seonghwa was going to be back home by the time he’ll return… everything was going to be fine.

He wasn’t used to the large amount of people talking walks on Saturdays. Sometimes he forgot their neighbourhood was one of the busiest ones, especially since the metro schedule had extended. Trying to pass a slow couple, Yunho received another text.

_YuHHN000!##_

His blood ran cold.

He tried to call Gunho, while walking faster among the crowd. His attempt was senseless: the phone seemed dead. Which had no sense, taking into account that his brother had sent him a message literally a minute ago…

The messages started to arrive speedily.

_Bro0jksd_

_BRO_

_YUNHO1W_

_´¨*{WheRE r?¡¿¿_

_/*3%%%%00_

_YuHnOO, I’m sc4Red &&/`[_

“Gunho!” he yelled to the mob. A few people turned back, looking at him as if he was crazy. Yunho turned his head in all directions. He was already in the spot Gunho had sent him, in the middle of the crowded street, among open shops and twinkling lights. Yunho felt how he was starting to suffocate. The idea of losing his brother was not only terrifying, but also full of guilt: he was there, he was somewhere around and Yunho couldn’t see him. Or help him.

Like a miracle, he saw a hoodie he’d recognise between a million ones.

“Gunho!” he shouted at the hooded figure, walking fast in that way.

They turned a bit in his direction. And started running on the opposite sense.

Yunho didn’t stopped, not only for a second, to think if his brother’s action was absurd. He only ran after him, colliding with people and not caring a bit. The multicolour hoodie was like a beacon in the sea of people, which he was blindly following.

“Wait, Gunho!”

The figure twisted inside an alley; separating from the mass. It took Yunho only a few seconds to reach there, just to discover the alley had another twist. Running after his brother, Yunho turned left to face him, aside trash cans and some boxes. They were on a dead end.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Yunho stopped. His brother was still showing his back to him, and hadn’t move a muscle, even though he had run as much as Yunho. That was the moment Yunho started to realise things were probably much worse than what he had imagine. The figure was singly smaller than his brother, and had long, black hair. Slowly, the head turned back.

Yunho hold his puke as much as he could. The figure had not face at all, only what it seemed to be a toothless smile. He scanned that bare skin, that long hair, and realised that person was using his brother’s hoodie. Probably his phone too.

“Where is my brother!?” he shouted, taking a step forward. The figure didn’t move. “Why are you wearing his hoodie? Where is him?”

He didn’t give a pen about what kind of creature it was, he felt how he was becoming angrier and angrier every step he made. That thing had taken Gunho away and he was going to save him, no matter what. Yunho grabbed the creature by its shoulders.

“I said… where!!”

Nothing happened for one second. After that, the creature raised its hand. Yunho felt how an invisible air blast pushed him away from that person, making him stumble and fall on his back. The fall hurt dreadfully, but Yunho used all his will trying to stand up again. He shouted at the figure once more, falling on his knees.

“Where is him!!”

The creature ripped the hoddie with its long, sharped nails. Black and chained clothes appeared under the rags, making Yunho gasp. Somehow, strong blasts of air started to punch Yunho, surprising him. He tried to fight back, but, what was he fighting back to? He couldn’t even see whatever was hitting him, immobilising him to the floor. The feel was so frightening Yunho started to scream, realising he was falling into panic and without being able to do anything but punching the empty air over him.

“Make it stop!” he begged –whom? The creature continued smiling and Gunho was nowhere. What was happening? Why to him? Where was Gunho? His anger and panic burned his throat while he screamed out, trying to get rid of his invisible ties. “Take it off! Please! Gunho! Hongjoong! Anybody, please help me!!!”

In the middle of the night, hundreds of kilometres away, Jeong Gunho received a desperate call of his brother’s roommate, asking if he was with him.


	3. III:    Y E O S A N G

It was around 1 am when Yeosang stopped in a park, tired of wandering all night. Looking at the light reflecting on the seesaw, an idea came across his head. He sat on the grass, grabbing his sketchbook and letting his skateboard aside him. The night was quiet; a few crickets were his only company. It took only a few rough strokes before completely capturing the calm and quiet vibe that the lamppost was throwing over the seesaw.

He used to get lost a lot. Due to his lack of memory, his parents were always trying to convince him to stay close to their house. He never listened, though, his curious self was always trying to make him go a step forward. His mum used to say “ _if you ever get lost, look at the stars. They’ll show you your way home_ ”. Most of the times, Yeosang only nodded and focused his view on the ground, before using GugleMaps to orientate himself.

That night, his parents didn’t know Yeosang had left the house.

An astronomical event was about to happen in a few minutes. He took his time to wander around until it became late enough to get a good spot, the best view in the city. That park was practically abandoned; only one of the lampposts was working and he could see the meteor shower almost perfectly.

It had had been Wooyoung’s idea. Knowing how much Yeosang was interested on that kind of stuff (“ _your science things I never get, bro, but I don’t know, this one seemed cool_ ”) he mentioned they could watch it together. Although Wooyoung wasn’t there, Yeosang videocalled him and set the phone over the skate. It took only a few rings before his best friend showed up on the screen, barely awake and with his pink tartan pyjama.

“Hey” saluted Yeosang.

“ _For Pan’s sake, Yeosang, you could at least send message before calling me.”_ Yeosang giggled, covering his mouth with his free hand. “ _You almost woke everyone up here_.”

“I’ll repay you, crybaby”

“ _That’s not fair!”_ his characteristic loud scream probably woke the entire city up, way much louder than Yeosang’s videocall. “ _You said so last time. I’m still waiting my free ramen_.”

“You didn’t win that one!”

“ _Nonsense. Waited an hour for you. AN HOUR.”_

“We called it an even, you coward.”

“ _Whatever, chicken boy, I wait for my ramen._ ” Wooyoung giggled while looking at his wristwatch. “ _Shouldn’t the shower thing be starting already?”_

Yeosang turned his glance back to the sky, literally freezing after what he saw.

“ _Yeosang. You still there?_ ”

“They are gone” he mumbled, petrified.

“ _What are you talking about._ ”

“The freaking stars, Wooyoung. They are all gone”

He wasn’t lying. Not a single spot was upon the sky, which was all black. Not even clouds. Like if, somehow, someone had turned off all the lights up there. The moon was nowhere, the stars were gone and the only lamppost was starting to wink.

“ _Are you nuts? Cut the joke, Yeosang, the showe$ &%_”

Wooyoung voice glitched before Yeosang grabbed his phone. Wooyoung was still there, luckily, but the image was distorted.

“Wooyoung!”

“ _I cAn BarelY he4AR you_ ” he said, while his image glitched in resonance.

The panic started to climb over his throat. Yeosang felt like he was about to cry. The stars were gone, the videocall was falling and he had no idea of where he was. _Breathe_ , he thought. _In, out. That’s it. Inside, outside_. But his breathing didn’t help; the night was darker than ever and he only could see thanks to his phone and the creepy lamppost. No stars meant no guide home. What if he could never get back? What if he was trapped on that scenario, on an abandoned park with a twinkle lamppost?

“It’s getting dark here” he whimpered, grabbing his phone even tighter. “Wooyoung, the lights are gone, the stars are gone…”

“ _Yeos4ng. YOu ARe n0t thinking$% strAigHt_.” his friend’s voice, instead of calming him down, was perturbing him even more. “ _Damn, I c4n’t se3 you. What a terribl3 Wi-Fi._ _St4y th3re. I’ll senD yoU a T4x1.”_

Yeosang didn’t hear him. Instead, he saw a lady right in the middle of the park, aside the seesaw. She scared the pen out of him, considering the fact she wasn’t there before and Yeosang didn’t hear any steps on the whole time he was there. She was wearing black clothes and her hair was long and black as well. _That’s why I didn’t saw her before,_ he tried to convince himself, _she’s all on black_. Trying to breathe normally, he raised his voice a little.

“Hello? Uhm, young lady, might you help me come back home? I’m a little lost and…”

“ _ye3”#% &&//(()#$Osang?? Whom ar333e you talking to0o?”_

Panic froze him when the lady raised his face, gifting him a smile with neither teeth or lips on a bare appearance. His phone dropped out of his hand, making the lady smile even more and raise both her hands.

Yeosang tried to ran away, but he didn’t make many steps until something grabbed his ankle. He distinguished some roots grabbing him, strongly. He tried crawling; useless method, given the amount of roots that were grabbing him from all his limbs. Yeosang screamed. He was dragged on the grass, getting closer on each centimetre to the freaking lady. He couldn’t fight. Instead, he was crying while begging, crying while screaming and unable to do anything else.

“ _Yeosang! I can’t seE3$%$ you! Yeosang!”_

“Please! Let me go!” his desperate beg made the lady smile even more. She wasn’t that tall, but seeing her from the floor, Yeosang thought she was tall as a tower and equally terrifying. The twinkle light of the lamppost behind her only made her appearance more petrifying. “I’ll give you everything I have, but please, don’t hurt me, please!”

The lady didn’t do anything for a second. After that, she laughed. But it wasn’t only one laugh, those were a million laughs one over the another, the same laugh on a frightening loop. It was the most terrifying noise Yeosang had ever heard. Trying to look away from that smile, he upon his eyes to the sky.

Only this time were no stars to guide him.

Over Yeosang’s abandoned sketchbook, the meteor shower begun, illuminating the skateboard and his broken phone. On there, Wooyoung was still screaming his best friend’s name.


	4. IV:   S A N

Another day, just as slow, tiring and senseless as the one before.

San had been working for the moving company for almost a year. His arms were strong enough to carry heavy furniture, put it on the track and then download it on the new house. That was his life, day by day, hour by hour. If it wasn’t by his co-worker, Maddox, he had probably quit long time ago.

It wasn’t only the company. He was irritated by almost everything. It was like if he was full of anger, full of wrath, and also felt so empty at the same time. Every day seemed like a horrible effort to make. The routine was tiring him more than what he had ever expected. Is not like he had something else aside that job. His parents were gone and his group of friends split when they all graduated. All that was left for him, was trying to survive on that path.

But what if it wasn’t? What if he quitted the job, and started a new life somewhere else? He used to be full of joy, why was he doubting so much? Even if that meant walking away from everything he knew…

All those thoughts were running on San’s head, making impossible for him to concentrate on the road. Not even the large amount of sunflowers and the sunny, morning sky was enough to cheer him up. Maddox, aside him, was driving in silence.

It was better that way.

They stopped at an intersection, while Maddox was checking the poor signal of the GPS. He could… just… open the door…

He jumped off the vehicle. In the moment his shoes touched the roadway, San felt an urge to run on the opposite direction. His body was kind of moving by itself, pushing him as far as it could of the track. He heard Maddox’s voice calling his name; he didn’t even look back, his rush becoming faster and faster each second. San’s black hair twisted into the wind. Looking up to the sky, he laughed out loud. For once, he was feeling joy. Lots of happiness. Doing something completely out of his mind, something wrong…

San continued running for almost twenty minutes, passing by the sunflower’s farm he’d seen before. He thanked how in shape he was, realising the desertion would have never been possible if he wasn’t tough enough. At one point, he stopped right in front of a route signal. In order to catch his breath, he examined what it said. “Seoul – 115km”. He felt how his new-born joy disappeared in just one second. Feeling tired and hungry, there was no way he could run for one hundred kilometres. He needed some sort of bus, or something like that. San tried to check on his phone; the signal was too bad to catch internet. Perhaps calling someone for help? Well, he had nobody to call, either. Shrugging, his race begun again. Maybe someone lived around there? Surely all those fields belonged to someone…

A lady was in the middle of the field! She seemed to be watering some sunflowers. Feeling how the relief covered him, San walked right to her, saluting on his way there.

“Good morning, madam!” he said, feeling how his shoes got more covered with mud each step he made. “I’m kind of lost. You see, I was looking for the bus that goes to Seoul. Might you tell where it is?”

The lady didn’t answer. Instead, she raised her face up.

San swore out loud while he stepped back. The woman had no face at all. Only a terrible smile in the middle of the bare skin. He tried to walk away, still swearing, when the mud grabbed his feet. He literally saw a _hand_ made of _mud_ grabbing his feet. San glanced at the lady, who hadn’t move at all. But he was sure she had something to do with it.

“Let me go.” demanded, pointing at his feet. No answer came, only a horrifying amount of laughs spurting out of that woman’s mouth. It felt like each of the laughs was an echo of the one before, multiplying the amount of horror San was starting to feel. He tried to release himself, but his knee got also grabbed.

Way more hands started to emerge from the mud, grabbing him from all his limps.

“Let me go!” he shouted at the lady, who continued smiling. “Release me and fight me equally! I’ll punch you!” one hand grabbed him by his neck, almost cutting his breath. “Come on… you coward!”

She continued laughing, coming closer to him. What a terrible image; a woman covered on black clothes, among green and yellow sunflowers… what a terrible contrast… San felt her terrible breath while she whispered something on his ear, still laughing.

“San”

His yell was the loudest he could reach.

On the middle of the mud, protected from the sun, an ID card rested peacefully. It belonged to Choi San, employee of KQ’s Moving Service. Only that the photo was so blurred that nobody could tell who was the person in that image.


	5. V:   M I N G I

It was the second week they had to sleep there. Mingi hated sleeping alone, but sleeping in a large, cold tent, full of other people was way worse.

His mom and him had to leave his house after the large flooding whipped Seoul two weeks ago. They had lost everything. In that moment, among other people like them, the only belongings Mingi had were a few clothes and his journal. For some reason, they were relocated somewhere on the middle of the countryside, behind a field of sunflowers. Mingi hated in there: the floor was always full of dust, and it felt like nobody really knew the meaning of “privacy”. Everywhere he went, people was there. The toilets, the showers, the canteen… even what it meant to be a “dormitory”, which was actually a large tent full of sleeping bags.

They were supposed to start over on that place. But how? His mother was still working, even though she had to get up two hours earlier than before, and they were on the middle of summer. Mingi had literally nothing to do in all day. So, he started writing.

At the beginning, those were only simple, short sentences barely connected to each other. But the ideas were running out of place on his head, so they started to appear on the paper. Being sentences, poems, raps. Mingi was terrible at writing entire paragraphs. But linked sentences, following a rhythm… that sounded good.

_Is full of people in here_

_The way they mumble, the way they whisper_

_They make the room look smaller,_

_So, I’m asking myself_

_If I’m surrounded by lots of beings_

_What is this loneliness that I’m feeling?_

He had always been a friendly guy, but being so worried about what was going to happen after summer made him grumpy and hostile. What would he do if they didn’t find a house by then? Due to his lack of experience, and the fact that he didn’t had any real address, was resulting on no jobs available for him. He also didn’t qualify for the national pension, so no income from that part either. All he could do was helping in the refugee centre, trying to keep his head busy and avoiding his terrible and pessimist thoughts.

_I can’t daydream. If I do so, I have even less chances of getting out of this hole. Daydreaming is not meant for me. At least, not now._

But Mingi was an imaginative boy, and he couldn’t help himself out when he stared at the sky and watched the moon, picturing a way better life for them. His mom (which was the smallest, but also the strongest person he had ever know) told him not to worry. They were going to succeed.

Wholeheartedly he wished it so.

His thoughts interrupted when he realised his journal was gone. It wasn’t over his sleeping bag, neither behind the clothes or nowhere in the tent. Mingi felt how his breath started to run away. He couldn’t lose his journal. It was the only thing that was truly _his_ in that entire place, the only thing that _belonged_ to him. Terrified, he practically yelled at the first person who walked in.

“Eugene!” he screamed, grabbing the guy by his arms. “I lost my journal!”

“Woah, hello to you too, Mingi” smiled him, gently retiring Mingi’s hands. He held his chin, thinking. “Weren’t you helping one of the managers outside? You know, in front of the dry field.” Mingi winkled, confused. “I think I saw you writing on one of the benches there”

“Yes!” Mingi hugged the other boy, euphoric. “Eugene, you are a genius. That’s why yo have that name, get it? Eu-genius.”

The boy burst out laughing while Mingi left the tent. He was right, Mingi and other boys had moved some of the old benches to the dry and abandoned camp in front of the centre. He probably had just forgotten it there. Although he was pretty sure the journal was with him when he returned to the tent…

Such field was a bit far, but Mingi made all his path singing. He arrived to the old benches, and, confused, realised his journal wasn’t there.

“Where the h…”

He passed the dry and tall grass, getting closer to the pile of trash ruling the place. Mingi was convinced he had never been among the old cars and fridges, but his journal was way more important than his lack of memory. He passed under what it seemed to be an old sideboard, to meet with his journal.

But someone (a lady) was holding it. Her long, black hair, and long, black clothes made her blend with the background. Although that, Mingi was sure he had never seen her in the centre. Maybe she was a new member. Taking out his best smile, he made a step forward.

“Lady!” which honorifics should he use? He couldn’t know if that person was older or younger than him; he couldn’t see her face. “You, uhm, you are holding my journal. Maybe you didn’t know, you seem new here. I’m Mingi, by the way. Nice to meet you”

The lady turned her face to him. Mingi screamed. Not only her bare face scared him, the way she turned was so unnatural, so… weird. Even though that… she was still holding her journal. Maybe she was nice, but ugly. Mingi cleared his throat.

“You surprised me!” he tried to choose his next words wisely. “I’ve never seen a face like yours. Actually, no, wait, you have no face. Pardon, that’s not what I meant. I mean…” he gasped. “That’s my journal, and I’d like to have it back, please”.

The woman didn’t do anything. But in the second Mingi blinked, his journal was set on fire.

He had no idea how he grabbed it from the woman’s hands, trying to turn the fire off, burning his hands on the process and screaming all along. When the pain became unsupportable, he dropped it off. In consequence, all the dry grass burst into flames. Mingi, terrified, tried to step back. Useless: he was trapped on a circle of fire. The lady passes through the flames like it was nothing, smiling at Mingi and grabbing his face between her hands.

After that, she smiled even more. He felt how the ground under him was starting to get hot.

“No. No, please, no! Who are you! Let me go, please! What is happening? Help! Somebody! Anyone, help me, please!”

Dropped in the middle of a ton of dry grass, Mingi’s journal’s pages oscillated, following the wind’s rhythm. Its last page was full of nonsensical scratches, forming the word “ _HELP_ ”.


	6. VI:   W O O Y O U N G

He didn’t give a pen about what the police think. Wooyoung left the police station with a bitter feel over his lips. They were doing nothing to find Yeosang. Nothing at all. And they even had the nerve to say that those declarations were “just kid things”, that probably Yeosang was making a joke to them all. Sure. By vanishing.

Wooyoung kicked a can, furious. If the authorities were going to just ignore his friend’s disappearance, then he was the one going to find him.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the protests of a boy, being pushed away from the police station by two officers. The boy, with a long brown mullet, fight against the policemen to get back in. But he was short and the officers threw him in the pavement, without even looking back. Like as putting out the trash.

“We already told you, kid: we know nothing about your friends. They are probable back in their own homes, right?” said the tallest officer, a woman with a dark ponytail. The boy stood up, his big eyes filled with impotence.

“You are the only ones that can help me!” he supplicated, making a step forward. The officer pushed him away, something that, in eyes of Wooyoung, seemed more full of tiredness than a real warning. After pushing him back, the police station door closed right on his face. The boy winkled, astonished. It took only a few seconds before he walked away. Following his impulse, Wooyoung grabbed him by the shoulder.

“I heard your friends disappeared too.” There was no time for even presenting himself. It had already been more than 18hours since Yeosang’s disappearance. The boy looked at him with suspicion, like evaluating if he could trust him or not.

“Too?”

“Yes. My best friend is gone as well.” He held out his hand. “I’m Wooyoung, by the way.”

“Hongjoong” answered the other, grabbing him. “Look, I’m not going back inside. It’s up to you if you want to…”

“Me neither. Those people know nothing about this.” Wooyoung’s voice was full of rage. “They said Yeosang left by true will. But I heard him screaming.”

“I am sure whoever is behind my friend’s disappearance got your friend kidnapped as well” Hongjoong started walking to the road, where a big motorbike awaited. “I think we can help each other”

Wooyoung stared at the short, buffed boy. He was determinate, he literally didn’t even wait for his answer: hurdled over the motorbike and gave Wooyoung a helmet. Knowing that this boy could probably lead him to Yeosang, he grabbed Hongjoong by his waist and jumped over the vehicle.

They went to all the places they could think of. Hongjoong had stolen a folder from the police station, where his friends and Yeosang’s information was archived. Aside the three of them, there were two other reports of disappeared teens: Choi San, an employee on a moving company; and Song Mingi, a boy who had lost his house due to the last flooding. Nobody seem to have seen them, or Yeosang, or Hongjoong’s friends. Wooyoung practically jumped over everyone, asking if they had seen a blond boy with a birthmark on his eye. Hongjoong, fortunately, was way less impulsive, and asked people being super polite. Although his good manners, by the end of the day the two of them were starting to lose their hopes.

They found nothing.

Hongjoong suggested to make a quick stop by the grocery store. Wooyoung, downhearted, waited for him outside. He knew this boy was right, that continuing looking for them with empty stomachs wasn’t going to help their friends at all… but all he could think of was Yeosang screams, and the dark screen.

“Lost on your thoughts?” asked Hongjoong, offering him a cup of instant ramen. Wooyoung nodded and grabbed it, thanking him with a hand gesture. “Feel you, man”.

“Tell me about it” Wooyoung looked at Hong, opening his ramen. “I’m going mad after losing my friend. I can’t even imagine what it must feel to lose two.”

Hongjoong nodded, slowly. He had his view focused on the abandoned theatre in front of them, covered on dust and with almost all the windows shuttered.

“I could have stopped the second one” he said. Wooyoung had the impression he was more talking to himself than to him. “The night he disappeared… I begged him to stay. I knew something was going on, something bad…”

“Hey” Wooyoung placed a hand on his back, comforting him. “Is not your fault, ok? Neither of us is guilty of this.” He smiled a bit. “I managed to hold back my other friend, though. He is still on high school; I have to make sure that I’m protecting him as much as I can. And that’s even stronger after what happened to Yeosang.”

“I’m glad you saved at least one of them” Hongjoog sipped his ramen. “What is his name?”

“Jongho. He is terribly mad at me now. I told his parents to lock him up.”

Both started laughing. Hongjoong grabbed both of the cups, and smiled at him.

“I’m gonna drop those, then I’ll use the toilet, and then we can leave. Do you mind waiting?”

“Do your thing” said Wooyoung, watching how Hongjoong dropped the trash, and then walked into the store to ask for the toilet. He felt cheered by that boy. And was extremely thankful that he didn’t threw him out when he asked for help. Hongjoong seemed like a good person, such as good as he knew Yeosang and Jongho were.

Immediately after thinking of friends, he glanced at the theatre. And, not believing his eyes, he literally _saw_ Yeosang closing the place’s front door. That couldn’t be. That wasn’t Yeosang, for sure. But… what if he actually was? What if he was so close to find him, and decided to go after Hongjoong and continue their search somewhere else? Wooyoung glared at the grocery store. Then, he made his choice.

The door was heavy and made an irritating squeak when he closed it, but at least he was inside the place now. It was completely dark. The sunset light wasn’t enough to illuminate all the place; Wooyoung tried to light it a bit with his phone’s flashlight. Footsteps. Guiding him to another closed door. Wooyoung walked into it… slowly, using his lighter as a weapon if necessary. He opened, meeting with a private dressing room.

Yeosang was standing in front of the mirror.

Wooyoung almost burst into tears of relief. He ran to his friend, hugging him while talking out loud.

“You idiot! You scared the pen out of me. Come on, let’s go home.” He grabbed Yeosang’s hand, but he wasn’t moving. Instead, he was completely still, staring at the mirror. Wooyoung looked there too, to check if there was something upsetting his friend…

The person in the mirror wasn’t Yeosang. It was a dark haired woman, with a toothless smile and darker, chained clothes. Wooyoung literally screamed and pushed the lady away, who didn’t look like Yeosang anymore. Now, her shape was entirely as the mirror one. Her posture was full of power, she stood still, smiling. Wooyoung grabbed the lighter on his back pocket.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” he shouted, trying to hide how horrified he actually felt. “You are gonna tell me where my friend is, and you are doing it right _now_!”

The lady laughed out loud. Literally. A million voices laughing over Wooyoung, who gritted his teeth and throw her the first thing he found. The shoe wasn’t even close to her; it ended behind some old sofa. The attack made her lose her smile. Her only gesture turned into a furious one, followed by a high scream of rage. Her shout was so sharp Wooyoung had to cover his ears, falling into the floor.

In that moment, all the electric circuits at the room exploded.

At first, Wooyoung didn’t saw the flames. It wasn’t until his coat started to burn he realised the floor was on fire. The books around him, the door, everything was mad into and of fire. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t do anything. Wooyoung felt a hand grabbing his, and turned to face the faceless woman. She started to laugh again.

Wooyoung screamed as much as he could.

By the time Hongjoong got into the theatre, the sun was almost gone. He found a lighter with the initials “W.J.” on it, in front of an intact dressing room. The place was so full of dust that it seemed nobody had put a foot there on a million years.


	7. VII:   J O N G H O

It wasn’t until his parents left the house that Jongho opened the window. There was no way he’d stay there. How dare Wooyoung to tell him to do _nothing at all_? Yeosang was missing, and now, taking into account the lack of response from Wooyoung, he had vanished too.

It took him only a few minutes to reach the basketball court. He was pretty sure he had seen Wooyoung there for the last time…

No. He wasn’t there.

The impotence made Jongho close his hands into fists. It was always the same. His two best friends, although they were only a year older, had always treated him as a kid. Jongho couldn’t blame them, though: Wooyoung’s caring nature drove him to take care of everyone around him, even people who didn’t want his attention. And, regarding Yeosang… well, both of them had shy and reserved personalities, and Jongho believed his hyung saw him kind of as a mirror. No wonder why he wanted to protect the one who reminded him of himself.

The problem was the following: neither of them seemed to understand that Jongho was about to finish high school, that he didn’t need two security guards aside him. Besides, he was stronger than them. If they were in trouble, it’d be Jongho’s strength which would solve the problem, not Wooyoung or Yeosang’s.

He sat on a bench, looking at all the dropped basketballs around him. The sunset was really making them look more orange than what they already were. Jongho felt more frustrated than ever. He couldn’t reach Wooyoung on his phone, and knew Yeosang ha vanished… he had to do _something_ , anything to help those two boys. They were literally their life. If it wasn’t for them, Jongho probably wouldn’t be the person he was. His selfsteem, his value, everything that made Jongho what he was, was due to Wooyoung and Yeosang. They had literally taught how to express and deal with feelings (not just bottling them up), how to solve an argument, how to put his emotional states into words.

He owed them.

What should he do? Jongho had no idea of where did his friends go, or where to start looking. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe he should just call the police, and then…

“I’m telling you, Eden, I’m freaking out!”

A voice surprised him; Jongho had thought he was the only one on the basketball court. He was right: a short boy, with his face full of tears, literally babbling into his phone, was outside it. He was sat on a motorbike. Jongho had never felt so sorry for anyone, but the boy’s face looked so desperate he wanted to give him a hug. Or maybe just a nice handshake.

“Look, I don’t know what the pen is going on” he was saying, visibly trying not to sob. “This boy is one too. And I saw…” he stopped, before changing his worried face into grumpy one. “No, Eden, of course I’m not… how can you think I could joke with something like this?” the boy cut the conversation when he saw Jongho staring at him.

Jongho tried too hard to not look flustered or embarrassed, so he just turned his head away. It wasn’t correct to listen to a private conversation; Wooyoung had many problems with that and he always complaint about it. Now, he was behaving just as his friend.

“I’ll meet you in five. Yes. Stay safe, please.”

He waited until the stranger walked a bit away to turn his head. And, unbelievably, he saw the thing he expected the less to find there.

There was Wooyoung’s car, standing in the middle of the street. And his owner in there, looking at some point the road. It wasn’t moving. Jongho blinked multiple times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Why the pen was Wooyoung in there? He was about to reach him… why wasn’t he moving? How did the car happened to be there, without any sounds or whatever? How did Jongho not realise the vehicle was literally just there?

He walked aside the stranger, who looked at him with a surprised face (is not like Jongho cared a bit about it, but he felt the boy’s eyes on his back the entire path), and opened co-pilot’s door. He sat next to Wooyoung, who didn’t even react to his action. For Pan’s sake, he was literally going to punch his friend. Instead, he looked at the point he was looking, somewhere on the empty road.

“So, did you find Yeosang?” Jongho tried to sound as calm as possible, but he felt so… powerless, and betrayed somehow. His voice was sharp and a bit mean. “I’m glad you did. You could have call me instead of freaking out my parents.”

Wooyoung didn’t answer.

“Aren’t you gonna explain me…?” he turned to Wooyoung, before freezing with his mouth opened. That wasn’t his friend. There was a lady, sat next to him, with a toothless smile and a lot of black clothes.

Jongho tried to open the door, instinctively, but of course it was locked. He punched it, trying to open. Hopeless. He looked at the lady again, who was smiling with that terrifying smile at him. “HELP!” he shouted, still looking at her. There was something hypnotizing about that woman. She was repulsive, but so horrifying that he couldn’t stop looking at her. Nevertheless, Jongho was still trying to open the door.

Unexpectedly, he felt his shoes were wet.

Jongho dropped his glance at his feet, where he found lifting water emerging of _nowhere_. He splashed it when he kicked it, impulsively, because the water was still lifting and the door wasn’t opening and Jongho had really no idea of what to do. He jumped of surprise when someone knocked the door’s glass. It was the boy, who was looking at him, terrified.

“Help me out!” Jongho screamed, and the stranger tried to open the door. Such a nonsense, although he managed to shake the car a bit. He couldn’t open it, and he started to scream while hitting the glass. Respectively, Jongho did so. The water was already on his neck and he felt how the lady’s hands were starting to grab his shoulders, still smiling on the mirror’s reflection. Jongho screamed out of bubbles when the water reached the roof.

In the moment Hongjoong managed to open the car’s door, a waterfall descended until the pavement. The water stayed there, only reflecting Hongjoong’s isolated and anxious face.


	8. VIII:  F E D O R A      M A N

It was done. On the hourglass’ surface, the vision was completely clear. Seven boys, asleep, on the floor.

The person with the black fedora looked at the kids on the observatory, one placed after the other one, in circle. Only the captain was left. He smiled, looking at the free spot he deliberated had left between the boatswain and the lieutenant. Each of them, lying on the floor, facing each of the cardinal directions... the captain must go on the north one, of course, and that was the one missing.

He laughed out loud, barely shifting into his other form, the lady one. No, it wasn’t ok!! He had to keep into this form until he met the captain. He couldn’t miss the captain. Not after all his crew was taken away. A blue butterfly escaped from the hourglass and fluttered around the man, until he grabbed it with his bare hand. The butterfly tried his best to get away; he whispered the following before she had any chance of leaving:

“Find him. Bring him to me. Show him the way. Remember: second star to the right, and straight on till morning…”

The butterfly filled its wings with a way lighter colour, almost pale blue, and flew away. The room was so dark the only light source came from the hourglass, so the fedora man didn’t saw his gofers coming in. Each of them was similar to him on some point: all of them had eyes, but covered their lack of mouth with a black, chained mask. One looked wantonly at the hourglass’ vision, almost drooling.

“Can’t we eat them already?” he said, focusing his glance on the pink haired one. The Fedora Man stood up, making all the other minions move back, frightened.

“Silence!” he screamed, causing a general commotion. “Don’t you want to have a human body again?” the minion nodded, terrified. “Then you must wait! Control that gluttony of yours. Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let it control you.”

“Sir, may I ask…” interrupted one of the other minions. “Why did you pick those children?”

The Fedora Man smiled, showing his disgusting smile to all his followers.

“Because those children are lost. Ah, but they are also full of hope and dreams. And you know, dear minions, there’s not a better place for a soul than a dreamy mind.”


	9. IX:     H O N G J O O N G

It was the middle of the night, and Hongjoong was still trying to sleep.

Everything was his fault. First, Seonghwa and Yunho’s disappearance. Second, those three other kids went missing before he could even know what was going on. And then, Wooyoung and this other boy disappear in front of his eyes. He literally saw the teenager _vanishing_.

Eden allowed him to stay at his home (although it was way far from protocol to let a student stay at a teacher’s house…) and left to his night classes. He returned after a few hours, but even before Hongjoong begun to explain what was concerning him, he had fallen asleep on his sofa. Hongjoong couldn’t blame him, though. Eden worked too hard.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what doing next. He couldn’t go to the police again, and he had no idea of whom were Wooyoung’s parents. Seonghwa had no family, Yunho’s brother already knew… what could he do?

Hongjoong woke up, startled at a little twinkle aside him. How big was his surprise when he saw a sparkling hourglass on the dining table, a thing that he was completely sure: it wasn’t there before. He looked at it. The sand was running upside down.

Ok, he had had enough. He was already tired of this magical bullsheet. He grabbed the hourglass, and attempted to smash it to the floor… but the twinkle repeated itself. Hongjoong looked in there. Was the sand twinkling? Could the sand even twinkle? Honestly, he didn’t care. He smashed it.

A small butterfly flied out of it, slow, lazy. Hongjoong was expecting some sort of horrible thing, but the insect was actually kinda pretty. Its wings were pale blue and smooth. The butterfly flutter in front of him for a second, and then flew to the door. It flew insistently around the latch, like if it were trying to told Hongjoong something.

“Do you want me to follow you?”

So he did. He followed the butterfly. He walked. And walked. Seoul was more full of lights that he had ever imagined. Who could tell, Kim Hongjoong, walking in the middle of the night, following a butterfly. That was certainly odd. The truth was… there were way too many odd things happening on the last two days.

And the tinker butterfly seemed nice.

So nice he tried to grab it.

Nothing happened.

And then Hongjoong was falling, falling aside a ton of clouds, like if he had jumped off a plane. He could do nothing but scream out loud. He couldn’t even see the floor, all around were clouds and wind; who knew when he was going to reach the surface. The butterfly was grabbing his hair, falling with him. 

“Tinkerbell!” he screamed, shouting the first name that crossed over his head. “We’re falling! Oh Pan, oh dear, we are gonna die!”

The butterfly answered to that name and went into Hongjoong’s hair. After that, Hongjoong felt how his speed was descending and he could control his body more. He tried to swim on air. Ok, that wasn’t the smartest idea, taking into account that all he was pushing behind with his arms were… well, clouds. Under his feet, he recognised some sort of…

“Is that a floating ship?” he asked. Tinkerbell twinkled as an answer.

The ship looked like nothing Hongjoong had ever seen before. It was certainly a pirate ship, but full of graffiti and painting all over port and starboard. It looked as if some teenage graffiti artists were lost on a Pirates of Antartica movie set. Also, it was almost empty.

Almost, because he recognised his two friends being asleep on the floor, aside five other bodies.

“SEONGHWA! YUNHO!” He yelled, trying to descend faster. Were they dead? No, he could watch Yunho’s heavy breathing from there. In the moment he touched the ship’s deck, he ran into Yunho’s arms, waking him up instantly.

“What?” he inquired, being hugged by his friend.

“I thought I lost you!” Hongjoong yelled while he experimented relief, the upcoming cry, concern and a million other emotions pressuring his heart. “I thought I lost you two! I’m so happy you guys are alive!”

Seonghwa, a few steps aside them, joined into the squeeze. Hongjoong could kill them for worrying him so much, but in that moment he only needed to hug his friends. Seonghwa smelled nice, like always, and it was comforting to have him close.

“Yeosang! Jongho!” he heard Wooyoung’s characteristic voice and raised his head a little to watch the boy jump into a blond and redhaired ones, who hugged him back. Behind him, two boys were still on the floor. They looked at each other.

“Are we supposed to hug each other too?” asked the thinner one. The other boy busted into laughing. His little girl laugh had nothing to do with his emo appearance.

“Yeah, we could. I’m San, just for you to know.”

“Mingi here!”

They both fused into a hug, exclaiming things like “oh, I was so worried” and “I’m glad to find you” while Wooyoung and Yeosang laughed. Yunho grabbed Hongjoong’s face, curious.

“Why is your hair blue?” he inquired, making Hongjoong’s face to grump in confusion. Seonghwa, more delicately, took Tinkerbell out of Hongjoong’s head. The butterfly wasn’t blue anymore; its colour was coffee brown now. Hong grabbed it, surprised. He understood why he could descend with more grace, without breaking his face against the ground. The butterfly twinkled a bit, but it wasn’t glowing anymore.

“I’m sure we are all worrying what’s going on.” exclaimed Wooyoung. He was sprightly looking at the strangers, Mingi and San. They both shrugged, exchanging a look.

Quickly, Hongjoong started narrating what had been going on. Apparently, those two boys were the ones on the police folder, each of them disappeared on a different spot. Mixing each other’s experience, it seemed like they were all kidnaped by the same terrifying lady (Yeosang even shuddered when he mentioned it) by being attracted with something or someone. Only Hongjoong had been able to reach that place by his own will, and, still, the biggest questions weren’t being answered: why them? Who was that lady?

Upon these enquiries, nobody was able to speak.

“I don’t actually care.” said Seonghwa, standing up and grabbing Hongjoong’s hand to lift him up. “I don’t give a pen about who are those people or why did they pick us. I just want to leave this place, now.”

Yeosang and Yunho nodded in response. Nonetheless, Jongho pointed something out.

“We don’t even know where we are. How are we gonna get out of here?”

Everyone looked at Hongjoong. He stared at them, confused. Tinkerbell twinkled on his shoulder.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Because, I don’t know, I feel like we all picked you up as our leader now” smiled Yunho, stirring Hongjoong’s hair. He walked back, shaking his head.

“You are all crazy.”

“Crazy or not, you are our best choice right now.” Wooyoung gave a look to Mingi and San. “No offense, dudes, but we don’t really know you two.”

The entire group laughed in response.

What a mistake.

The ship shook as if it had crashed with something, making all the boys to fall into the floor. Hongjoong looked up, just to see, terrified, a huge amount of dark men with hats and chains flying to them. The thing that scared him the most was the fact that each of those men’s faces were an exact copy of them. There was a fake Yunho, a fake San… Hongjoong looked at the terrified kids. Quickly, something that helped then to resist the attack… He stood up when he saw a large amount of swords, grabbing one and putting it on Yeosang’s hand.

“We are gonna fight, ok?” he said. “No time for explaining.”

Seonghwa stood up, giving him a determinate look. The rest of the group seemed too scared to even act. Then, Yunho grabbed what it seemed to be a barrel, screaming.

“Yes! We are gonna win!”

Wooyoung laughed out loud, with his unmistakable voice, and that was enough to crack the fear.

Only their laughs and dreams were enough to beat them.

The second the fake San put a foot on the deck, the real San pushed him away with his shoulder, screaming. He looked like a bull fighting a matador. After him, all the other boys started to fight his fake personas. Hongjoong was surprised about how strong Jongho was: he literally broke one of the fake’s legs with just a punch.

“So, we finally meet, captain.”

A voice behind him made him turn back, worried about how much did that voice sound like his. How surprised he was when he faced a fake Hongjoong, but, instead of the clumsy movements the other fakes were doing, this one moved gracefully. Hongjoong grabbed his sword, intensely.

“I have no interest on meeting you, thanks”

He lashed out to the fake Hongjoong, being stopped by his sword. Hongjoong had no idea how hard it was to fight with swords until he had one on his hands. The fake one disarmed him on only two movements, leaving him defenceless. Hongjoong panicked. That couldn’t be over that quickly!

The fake Hongjoong smiled and pointed at him with the sword, making him walk back.

“I can’t believe I defeated you so easily.” His voice was so similar to his… “I picked you up because I thought you’d give more fight. But it seems not even in dreams you are able to defend yourself.”

Wait.

“A dream? So, this is a dream?” he asked. His back hit one of the poles.

The fake Hongjoong laughed.

“Of course it is! But now… you’ll never wake up.” He placed his sword on Hongjoong’s chest. “Ahoy, captain.”

In that second, Tinkerbell flew to the fake Hongjoong’s face and started twinkling in his eyes, making him scream and step back. Taking that little advantage, Hongjoong grabbed the sword in the floor, preparing himself to fight again.

A terrible howl coming from Jongho’s fake one made him stare at them. The fake one seemed defeated, but Jongho was disintegrating in particles. He screamed out of fear, rying to touch himself. The fake Hongjoong, beside him, yelled in pain.

“No!! he is waking up!!”

_A dream… waking up…_

“Jongho! It’s ok, you are going home! This is a dream and you are waking up!”

The teenager looked at him, the fear completely stamped on his eyes.

“You promise?” he practically cried.

“I do.”

Jongho vanished.

The rest of the people literally froze. Nobody actually knew what to do. Until Mingi grabbed the fake Mingi’s head and smashed it into the floor while yelling the following:

“Let’s go, let’s go home!”

The battle continued. Wooyoung and Seonghwa made a great team, both of them using their forces to defeat their opponents together. They vanished, saluting to the rest of them. Yeosang, very cleverly, tied the fake Yeosang and pushed him off the ship. Hongjoong watched how, slowly, all the boys defeated their enemies. Yunho was the last. Before completely vanishing, he gave Hongjoong a sincere look.

“See you at home, hyung.” He said before disappearing. Hongjoong looked at the fake Hong, who was waiting patiently to be fought. 

It was his time to face the other captain.

At first, they were quite equal. Hongjoong used his speed to balance the situation, but after some minutes he was starting to get tires, while the other Hongjoong oozed stamina. He wasn’t gonna make it. No. That couldn’t be. He wasn’t gonna be defeated by some fake-version of himself. Using all his strength, he entombed his sword onto the fake Hong’s eye.

The result was disgusting. While screaming, and grabbing his eye, he walked back. His appearance changed: his hair grew longer, his eye disappeared (not so the wound) and his facial features were replaced by a big, terrible, toothless mouth. It wasn’t smiling. It was crying.

“I only wanted to have a human body again…”

Hongjoong knew that, if he listened to her, then there was no chance of getting out of that ship. With all the force he had left, he placed his sword on that lady’s neck.

“I’m really sorry.”

Somewhere, on an observatory in the middle of the city, seven boys woke up. The one with peachy hair seems extremely worried. His friend is somewhere up, among the stars.


	10. Epilogue

“Hongjoong didn’t came back!” Yunho’s shout was strident, and full of terror. Seonghwa grabbed his arms.

“Probably he is still fighting.” Intervened Yeosang, who was as worried as the rest.

“What if… what if he didn’t make it?” inquired Mingi.

The entire group remained in silence. It couldn’t be possible. It was Hongjoong the one who went after them, it was him the one wo saved them all… no, he had to make it.

“Let’s go find him.” Suggested Wooyoung, grabbing his jacket, befor being stopped by Jongho.

“How are we supposed to get that up?”

“I’m sure there is a way!”

“Yunho, calm down. Let’s think about this.”

After Seonghwa’s words, the observatory’s door opened with a particular squeak to present the captain. He was sweaty and agitated.

“For Pan’s sake! I couldn’t find the place. I woke up a few streets down here…”

Yunho ran to him, hugging his friend. No words were necessary. He was ok, all of them were free and ok now. Slowly, all the boys joined the hug.

“Thank you, hyung.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Thank you so much.”

“I’m really glad you saved us.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank you, Hongjoong.”

He remained among his friends, feeling like, between that amount of warm and kindness, he felt like in a dream. A good one this time.

“Can we go for ice cream after this?”

“Mingi, that’s a fantastic idea!”


End file.
